The rubber will hit the road on August 9th, quite literally, as my wife and I venture out to northern BC on a hypermiling mission. This time however, we won’t be taking the 100 mpg diesel smart car. We will be taking a 1997 Ford Escort sedan, powered by a 2.0 litre gasoline engine, with a 4 speed automatic transmission. We will have a Scangauge Fuel Economy Computer along for the ride, to help motivate a low appetite for fuel.

According to NRCAN’s Fuel Consumption Ratings website, the Ford Escort is capable of 6.3 L/100km on the highway. I’m going to set a conservative goal ahead of time - and try to beat that by at least 10% for the entire trip, which would mean getting 5.7 L/100 km, or 50 mpg imperial. For my US friends, the car is (now) rated for 31 mpg on the highway, although it used to be 34 mpg. I’m looking for at least 41 mpg US, which would be higher than any of the cars reporting at fueleconomy.gov.

This should probably be pretty easy right? I’ll be travelling with my wife Cynthia and a full complement of luggage, but thankfully, no roof racks. The car has A/C, which will be used sparingly.

The plan is to go from Abbotsford to Smithers in one day, then to Prince Rupert, and then return. We should see a minimum of 3000 kms of road, and roughly 170 litres of gasoline. I’m not going to modify the car in any way, except I’ll run with a bit higher tire pressure and if I’m really into it, I’ll put a strip of ‘vortex generators’ on the roof to see if I can reduce the aerodynamic drag. (I’m in the process of testing these kinds of items, and hope to make a case for using aftermarket aerodynamic devices at Coastal Pacific Xpress on the highway trucks. We spend $1 million a week on fuel.)

We will be hypermiling on this trip, which means driving the speed limit, anticipating traffic flow, coasting when practical (engine ON, foot OFF the accelerator, either in or our of N depending on situation), and keeping the foot off the brake pedal… I will be reviewing some specific automatic transmission strategies from ecomodder and cleanmpg, to see what others have learned and have to share. Between all of that, and by using the Scangauge, I’m pretty sure Cynthia and I can better the NRCAN fuel consumption rating by 10%. The car is running well, has had a recent oil change, and has 175,000 kms on it.

We’ll post some details while on the road.

Stay tuned…

I’ve been asked a few times if I actually need a Scangauge. Some people have thought that owning an already fuel efficient vehicle would negate the value of such an investment. Not the case… Having a fuel economy computer like the Scangauge during The 100 MPG Challenge would have yielded better fuel economy results.

In my 30+ day drive from Victoria to Labrador and back, I managed 3.63 L/100 km, but the target was actually 3.5… and with a Scangauge, I think I could have come in at 3.3 - a whole 10% better. Knowing the engine load on hills and having access to instant fuel consumption readouts would have enabled changes, and effected better performance.

Well, all that aside…. if you missed it, you can hear the CBC Hypermiling interview from July 28th, here. (Warning - It is a large 21 mb file, best to save it and then open in iTunes perhaps.) You might also like to visit cleanmpg to learn more about hypermiling.

Update: July 17th

ConsumerAffairs.com in the United States has published a thorough warning against the water4gas scam. The false and misleading information supplied by the water4gas proponents is very quickly going to get known as just what it is…

I really didn’t want to have to deal with this subject so suddenly, but repeated requests for info about ‘running your car on water’ or making ‘HHO’ aka ‘Brown’s Gas’ has prompted it.

The BCSEA e-mail list for discussion on energy topics has seen ‘water4gas’ get a respectable quantity of bytes. And on the way to Global TV on Monday I heard a guy from the Vancouver Gadgeteers on CBC Radio talk about a ‘water-hybrid’. I think the host Stephen Quinn knew something was hokey. The Gadgeteers were hosting two water4gas clinics in Vancouver Monday night.

Not stopping there… a customer of mine who had ordered a Scanguage, and a Service Advisor from a large company a friend works for are just two people in the last 24 hours that I have learned have bought the water4gas books. The Climate Action Dividend isn’t going to much good use it would seem?

So I sifted the internet for a good smackdown.

Here is ‘The proof that HHO is a scam’. It’s long, it might even be boring. But it is detailed. With rebuttals and counter-rebuttals. Lots of links and some scientific explanations. Make sure you read ‘A Reply to the HHO Scammers’ as well.

You could also check out a Discovery Channel ‘Mythbusters Forum’ discussion.

And oddly enough, the main online marketeer of the water4gas ’scam’, Ozzie Freedom, well, he used to promote a website called ‘magnet4cash.com’, which, get this, now refers you to…. water4gas.com!! (And yes, there is a reason I don’t provide ‘clickable links’ to internet detritus, but feel free to check it our for yourself.)

As an aside, I have been suggested to ready a lengthy article on the world of fuel savings devices… all the things that DON’T work. Soon… but in the meantime, remember, you hold the key to better mileage. Please see my ‘Hypermiling for better fuel economy’ article for some basic things you can do to go further on fuel.

I can get 100 mpg because I’ve started with an already fuel efficient vehicle, and then added driving techniques and real-time monitoring with a Scangauge fuel economy computer to the mix.

One last point…

Why are there water4gas ads on my pages from time to time?

I’m going to quote Bruce Simpson aka Aardvark (who wrote the articles on the HHO scam).

Yes, it’s kind of ironic isn’t it? I don’t get to choose which advertisements Google places on these pages but I do get a kick out of knowing that the very people who seek to scam you are helping pay for the pages that expose their fraud.

Don’t buy internet ’scams’. Save your money for slippers - driving with a feather foot could REALLY save you some fuel.

Keith

Contact me by e-mail.

I’ve created a couple of Fuel Savings Calculators to help those of you considering the smart fortwo as a solution to the high cost of fuel.

The Canadian version of the calculator is here. Fuel economy is measured in L/100 km (litres per 100 kilometres), and will compare your current vehicle against both the diesel and the gasoline smart cars.

The American version is here. The fuel economy is measured in mpg (US), and will compare your current vehicle against the 2008 smart with the gasoline engine only.

You will need Microsoft Excel to open these files. (If you don’t have excel, try ‘Open Office’.)

The calculators are really simple to use, and you’ll be able to see the potential savings in just a couple minutes.

Please send any comments or feedback to me.

Been awhile since I’ve posted something new on the site. Stay tuned for some new fuel savings calculators that I’m creating. Friends and co-workers are all talking about the high price of fuel, with some even considering buying a smart car or other fuel efficient vehicle. Our IT guru traded in his Ford Explorer on a Honda Civic Hybrid. I’ve got a couple folks interested in my 2006 diesel… so once that goes, I’ll get a 2008 gasoline smart and figure out how little fuel it can use.

In the meantime… here’s something for all those out there who are tired of high fuel prices… enjoy! (Be sure to click on ‘more’ to see all of the cartoons…)

(more…)

A smart enthusiast from St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec has posted a record tank in his 2006 smart cdi, which has the 799 cc 3-cylinder turbo-diesel currently unavailable in the United States.

Over the course of five days, his car used just 23.8 litres to go 1063 kms. That’s an astounding 660 miles on 6.3 US gallons.

Fuel economy summary:
2.238 L/100 km
126 mpg imperial
105 mpg US

Incidently, this essentially matches the fuel economy I achieved almost exactly a year ago!

Serge wrote at clubsmartcar: (more…)

Canada’s (not so New) Government has finally introduced incentives for purchasing fuel efficient vehicles, and what’s more… it’s not limited to just hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles.

Visit here for full details. Rebates of up to $2000 will be mailed out to those leasing or purchasing qualified 2006 and 2007 vehicles.

The 2006 smart cdi (diesel) does indeed qualify for the full $2000 rebate. See here for details.

It has been confirmed by Mike T over at clubsmartcar that there are over 10,000 smart cars in Canada, with somewhere around 1500 left to sell before the new 2008 (model 451) gasoline powered version hits out shores. There is every indication that the new version will also qualify for the full $2000 rebate.

I’ve been smartless for awhile, albeit temporarily… I may acquire a cabriolet version at some point. 100 mpg would be nice right about now. :-)

Here is an excel spreadsheet showing the fuel economy of my car for November 2006. Note that my best tank was over 93 mpg US on a round trip.

2005 smart fortwo coupe cdi (.8 litre 3-cylinder diesel)

3731 kms total
121.7 litres
3.26 L/100 km
(86.6 mpg imperial)

2319 miles
32.15 US gallons
72.1 mpg US

My goal is to get my day to day driving down to about 3.0 L/100 km, which is 78 mpg US or 94 mpg imperial. With some minor aerodynamic modifications to the car, I should be able get 100 mpg US or better on some highway trips.

The smart car mileage reported by various sources has varied, but please remember mine is a diesel, while the cars in the US currently are gasoline.

Contact Keith by e-mail.

As some of you recall, I had been considering selling my smart diesel and getting a used Honda Insight. It was feeling like the limits of the car as far as fuel economy was concerned had been reached. I had already surpassed 100 mpg several times, getting as much as 126 mpg imperial in June 2006. I felt that the Honda Insight would offer the ‘next challenge’ - delivering better fuel economy numbers in day to day driving.

But used smarts are becoming cheaper in Canada, and my car was not quick to sell, despite it’s flawless condition. All this to say… I needed a new motivation to seek better day to day fuel economy.

And I did find it, at gassavers.org. A few weeks back, I acquired a second hand fuel economy computer that plugs into the OBDII port of the smart. After calibrating the unit with a GPS and verifying fillup data, my day to day numbers have improved by 15% - close to 10 mpg, or .5 L/100km.

Having instant feedback on fuel consumption is a great motivator - and also enables you to make some driving style adjustments that result in lower consumption. On some trips to/from work I can get close to 100 mpg. My best thus far was 2.9 L/100 km / 97 mpg.

A few modifcations are planned for the car, including getting a set narrower front wheels from a European dealer. (The narrower front wheels were once standard on the smart diesel in Germany.) My goal is to try and get 3.0 L/100 km in day to day driving overall during the warmer months of the year.

More to follow shortly!

You can contact 100mpg.ca by e-mail.

John and Helen Taylor completed their 78 day ‘Around-the-World’ Fuel Challenge last week. You can read one of their closing logs here.

They were able to achieve a remarkable 62.8 mpg (imperial) average during the 28,970 km journey. That’s a mere 4.5 L/100km - and this is a gasoline car.

For my many US readers - that equates to 52.3 mpg (US). They filled up only 24 times, using only 344 US gallons on the 18,000 mile trip.

So, I guess I have my work cut out for me. I could beat this number in a diesel smart no problem if anyone would like to sponsor. :-)

Congrats to John and Helen!